Rabindra Bharati University professors who had put in their papers over a racist slur issue withdrew their resignation after Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee assured that the matter would be probed, on Wednesday, 19 June, reported IANS.
"Two more department heads and directors of six study centres had submitted their resignation before the council. But after talking to the education minister, the teachers have withdrawn their resignations," said Teacher's Council Secretary Debabrata Das.
However, the teachers have demanded the suspension of some union leaders against whom the allegations were made.
On Monday, four departmental heads of the university in Kolkata had filed their resignation papers after members of the Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad (TMCP) allegedly made racist remarks against them.
According to a Hindustan Times report, the department heads of Bengali, Sanskrit, Economics and Political Sciences departments — namely, Bharati Bandopadhyay, Amal Kumar Mandal, Bindi Shaw, and Bankim Chandra Mondal — along with the deans of three other departments, tendered resignation after few non-teaching staff members misbehaved with them.
The insults were allegedly hurled at them following an argument with a group of students, the report added.
Partha Chatterjee Steps In
In the wake of this incident, Chatterjee stepped in to look into the matter. He visited the campus and assured immediate action. He asked the Vice Chancellor to conduct a meeting with the teachers on Wednesday, but the teachers skipped the meeting, IANS reported.
“After our meeting with the education minister, we politely requested our VC to give an official statement that our resignations have not been accepted, but we were not given any update about it,” Das told IANS.
Tension escalated further as more teachers started putting in their papers.
He said after Chatterjee's intervention, the VC gave an official statement that the resignations have not been accepted.
"We have demanded the suspension of student union leader Biswajit Dey and Sushanta Chakraborty (of non-teaching staff) for a fair probe into the charges of harassment on racial grounds and restoring a conducive academic atmosphere," he said.
If they aren't removed before the enquiry, the teachers will go for further protests, Das added.
TMCP Denies Allegations; TMC Says Matter Will be Investigated
TMCP, the students' wing of the Mamata Banerjee-led party, has denied the allegations, adding that they are "baseless." TMCP further alleged that the professors do not hold classes regularly.
Addressing the media, Partha Chatterjee, after meeting the RBU vice-chancellor on 18 June, said the matter was being looked into.
“This is not expected at a place, which has been named after Rabindranath Tagore. Such practices will tarnish the reputation of the institution. This should not have happened,”Partha Chatterjee, Bengal Education Minister
"Action will be taken if anybody is found guilty during investigation," Chatterjee claimed.
The university, founded in 1962, is located on the premises of Tagore's family home, Jorasanko Thakur Bari, in Kolkata.
(With inputs from PTI and Hindustan Times)
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